Boston: Public Safety Expert Appointed to Massport Board

Law enforcement and public safety expert Kurt N. Schwartz is the newest member of the board of directors of the Massachusetts Port Authority (Massport). He was sworn in by Gov. Deval Patrick on July 2 and will participate in his first board meeting on July 18. 

For the past three-and-a-half years, Mr. Schwartz has served as undersecretary for homeland security and emergency management in the Executive Office of Public Safety and Security (EOPSS), a position he will retain. In that role, he provides strategic leadership to the Massachusetts National Guard, the Department of Fire Services, the Commonwealth Fusion Center and EOPSS's Homeland Security Division. He also serves as the director of the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency, overseeing a staff of 108 people and an $8 million operating budget. Mr. Schwartz also serves as the state's Homeland Security Advisor and member of the Governors Homeland Security Advisors Council under the umbrella of the National Governors Association.

"Massport’s top priority is the safety and security of its facilities and the people who use them and work at them,’’ said Massport CEO Thomas P. Glynn. "Every day at Logan starts with a security meeting of all the stakeholders reviewing the last 24 hours and looking ahead at the next 24 hours. It is important that the awareness of public safety and security that is built into the fabric of Boston Logan International Airport will also be represented on the board with someone like Kurt.’’

Previously, as undersecretary for law enforcement and fire services for three years, he provided strategic leadership to the Massachusetts State Police, Department of Fire Services, Office of Grants & Research, Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency, Municipal Police Training Committee and Department of Public Safety.

A career public servant, Mr. Schwartz was an assistant attorney general for eight years, the last five as chief of the Criminal Bureau, where he supervised a staff of prosecutors, investigators and state troopers and oversaw a number of large-scale, complex criminal investigations, including the multi-agency investigation into the ceiling collapse of the I-90 Connector Tunnel. He started his law career as an assistant district attorney in Middlesex County, including eight years as chief of the Special Investigations Unit. Mr. Schwartz, like all seven Massport board members, serves without pay. His term runs through June 2020. He has a bachelor’s degree from Wesleyan University and a law degree from Boston College Law School.

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